Kimberley George FPFS TEP, who has just launched Integrated Paraplanning Solutions, has pledged to bring “new lifeblood” into the industry. The need for greater numbers of young professionals coming into the sector has been keenly stressed by leading Paraplanners in the last few years.
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Chartered Financial Planner Ms George believes strongly in training more professionals to become fully fledged Paraplanners.
Demand for Paraplanners with the right skills and experience has been outstripping supply in the last couple of years, with difficulties recruiting the right candidate bemoaned by various Financial Planning firms.
Ms George told Financial Planning Today: “More companies need to invest in training and developing Paraplanners. I fully intend that we grow the team by recruiting inexperienced but capable people who we can train and develop as well as great experienced hires.”
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Ms George said: “The other issue I have seen is that many ‘Paraplanners’ are not given the opportunity to truly fulfil their remit – instead they are report writers regurgitating information provided to them.”
“Those IFAs who haven’t had a good Paraplanner have no idea what they are missing out on and say, “I can write my own reports”.
She said: “The real skill of a Paraplanner is identifying advice opportunities for the adviser; securing good client outcomes and articulating the reasons why, in accordance with their understanding of regulation, in a way that the client can understand.”
Ms George said: “I am passionate about Paraplanning as a profession and keen to help bring new lifeblood into the industry.”
She is aiming to achieve this through taking part in a CII initiative, which has included giving presentations to university students about her route from graduate to Chartered Financial Planner. She revealed she is talking to the PFS about a more permanent role in the regional committee to do more about this and related issues.
Ms George, who used to work for Sanlam, said: “Paraplanning is still not widely recognised as a career choice, instead it is viewed as a stepping stone to becoming an IFA. I was no exception – securing a very rare training contract at Estate Capital after completing my law degree.
“So the pool of individuals who get as qualified, if not more qualified, than an IFA, excel in Paraplanning and choose to stay in that role is small. But it is growing all the time.”